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I can tell you why I am on GMRS often. Availability, coverage and the people using it. Though, that changes depending on where I am in the country. I cannot tell you how many @$$h0l3s I run into on ham radio every day. They think they are smarter than everyone else, and then use that very wrong opinion to assert their 'authority' (bad opinion stated as if it was a fact) over others. Then there are the jammers, tuner-uppers, and people just plain-ole' showing their butt. It makes me want to toss my gear in the trash some days. I don't have that problem on GMRS. On the GMRS side, we have local person here who used their personal time and money to put up repeaters on every pair and spread them around the DC metro area, just to make it so the community has something to use in an emergency (he's actually the opposite of what the jerks are in Ham radio). Thanks to this person, there are 90+ miles of continuous coverage edge to edge; more than 6300 square miles. You can double that coverage if you tolerate a 60%-70% reliability rate. There isn't a single amateur radio repeater or club network that can match his coverage. As far as who I talk to, my son is the only person in my family that has a Ham license and he doesn't even own any amateur radios. My wife let hers expire more than a decade ago. There are a small handful of friends that have their Ham license, but are rarely on the air. Now, on the GMRS side, I literally have several dozen family and friends that are on GMRS or use FRS while we are out doing things together. The lack of testing, the affordable gear and the fact that people like me are in their life to help with technical stuff, so they don't have to actually learn anything to simply use the radio, is a huge draw to them. Many of them refuse to get their amateur radio license. Side note on why I hate Ham Radio: Before you read this... it may be long and boring, which is why I put it after the more relevant part of the post. It is still relevant, because its a great example of why I as a Ham, prefer GMRS. As you read this, keep in mind that on the amateur frequencies from 144 MHz to 148 MHz, FM signals are just a little more that 16 KHz wide on a properly running radio. Also, based on the 16 KHz wide signal, the proper technical spacing between occupied frequencies is 20 KHz. However, for some reason the community in about half the country opted to use 15 KHz channel spacing instead, which leads to overlap and interference. Jerks in Ham radio never cease to amaze me. I have an example from just a few days ago, while I was talking to a traveler on 146.520. For our non-Ham friends, this is a calling frequency. Meaning if you are looking for someone to talk to, you go to that frequency to call for other operators, and many operators listen here to chat, too. Once you make contact, its customary to move the conversation to another frequency, but not required. Often it is used continuously for hours at a time for contests and special events, or just for a couple of people to just chat. I was talking on 146.520 to a person who was on the highway, traveling through the area on his way from PA to FL. Total conversation was 6 minutes. I figured it would be best to stay on that frequency, rather than to distract the driver by having him figure out how to adjust his radio while driving on the highway. Especially since at 65-70 mph, it wouldn't be long before I couldn't hear him. I had a guy come to 146.520 and yell at me because we were tying up "the calling frequency" instead of moving to another frequency. He was also very mad because I was using about 200 watts and was splashing him and his friends on 146.535. He was calling me names and generally being very rude. Well, I am not surprised he could hear me on 146.535, because (as mentioned earlier) a proper signal is a little more that 16 KHz and he was only 15 KHz away from 146.520. Him and his friends should have picked the better channel spacing of 20 KHz (146.540) or more, so there was no overlap. The power I was using was not an issue, because I could hear him splashing me... and I am assuming it was the overlap, not his power levels. Among other things I can't type in a family friendly forum, he said my gear was crap and I am a bad operator who shouldn't even be on the radio because I was splashing him so bad that he couldn't talk to his friends. He said that he hates new operators, can't believe they don't teach new people better manners and to follow the rules. When I told him he didn't know what he was talking about and I was an operator for 20+ years, his answer was that he was a Ham for more than 60 years and knows more then new guys like me. LOL The funny part of the whole situation is, in his eyes I'm the jerk who doesn't know anything and shouldn't be on the radio, but he was the one attacking me and insulting me while HE was using bad practices of not using proper channel spacing, being at least 20 KHz away from the most popular coordinated VHF frequency in amateur radio. This stuff NEVER happens to me on GMRS.

Regardless of any previous interactions you’ve had with the OP, it’s a politely presented and reasonable question. If you don’t have an answer or don’t wish to comment, that’s easily done without being negative.

They wont be for sale until the 18th so nobody has one..... I have one, but i cant talk about it until the 18th..

gortex2, I am a newly licensed ham as well as a newly licensed GMRS operator. Personally, I did so for 2 reasons. The first is, I am extremely nervous about pressing that PPT button. (Kind of shy) I believe the GMRS community is less stringent or more understanding of new operators who may make mistakes, which makes pressing that PTT button easier on GMRS. The second reason is, my wife has no desire to get a ham license. I wanted to be able to help educate her on the use of radios if things turned south and we needed another way to communicate. So, I helped her get her own GMRS license. We practice communicating often, between our vehicles as well using our base to our vehicles. She has requested permission from local repeater owners, and when she receives those permissions, we will start to practice using the repeaters as well. Introducing the grandkids will be next. I hope this makes since and helps.

I was a licensed ham 25-30 years ago and it was fun at first, then a lot of drama between two clubs. If I got caught talking to one person from one of the clubs the other would disown you. Reminded me of a bunch of high school girls. When I moved out of state I sold it all off and let my license expire. Fast forward to a few months ago and decided to get my GMRS license and give radio another shot. GMRS has been fun, no drama yet. Also got into SDR (software defined radio) and have really been enjoying listening to a couple of very active nationally linked 70cm DMR repeaters in the area. Now thinking of getting my ham license back just to play around with DMR. 2 meter is pretty much dead and 90% of non DMR traffic on 70cm are the weekly net's in my area. I took the sample test a few days ago and passed with a 85% score on a whim without looking at any kind of study guide since I took my last test 28 years ago. I'll probably go ahead and get my amateur license back one of these days but I'll still have a GMRS radio running next to it.

Michael Lax has it correct. There really isn't a mobile multi band transceiver, at least not FCC typed accepted for multi services. I could just imagine if the FCC approved a manufacture for Multi Service multi band transceiver, it would be chaos in between services. Sure, you could modify your radio, but you would have to do testing to keep in compliance even though it's wouldn't ever be type accepted. I have had some of my radios modified, but I regret doing that now. I want a radio that handled two service, but I realize I was breaking rules & regulations by doing that. However, I still continue to use my CS-800D and CS-800 for Amateur Radio DMR and GMRS,even though both of those radios are part 90 and not 95 or 97

I rarely hear anybody on the radio. It's because I use DCT! My reason for GMRS license was to have comms between family and friends when camping, hiking, kayaking etc. At the time I've got license my kids were pre-teens, and my wife had zero interest in getting ham license. We used GMRS actively over the years. My daughter is a ham too, but it is simpler for us to grab GMRS radios when we both out on MTB or on foot. Now when kids are adults and have their own interests, I mostly carry ham HT. And DCT or not, there is very little traffic on air in Sierra Nevada and in foothills. You will hear people around campgrounds and marinas, but wander a few miles up the trail and there is nothing.

I don’t have a ham ticket and have wondered about this very question. I live in an area that seems to have more Ham traffic but I wouldn’t say it’s excessive. About five frequencies if you include the PAPA repeater south of me seem to get some use that I have noticed. A small amount of traffic on GMRS with a few repeaters. One is about 4 miles from me and has great coverage. The Hams here seem respectful and from the traffic I hear a lot of them also have their GMRS license and may be responsible for a couple GMRS repeaters (thank you). I just figured people who like radios like radios… I appreciate marcspaz taking the time to share his experience and perspective to give some insight on how some Hams may have gravitated towards GMRS.

This is a conversation group. It's just a subject to talk about. Not a big deal, I think.

Welcome to GMRS! The Notarubicon YouTube channel has videos that answers this exact question, including showing how to set Baofeng uv5R radios and repeater basics, but I’ll try to give a short description here that might help you. It won’t be as entertaining as Randy’s videos, but I hope it will give you a foundation. Transmit and receive frequency Repeaters use full duplex communications, meaning that at exactly the same time they are receiving a transmission they are transmitting it at a frequency that’s typically 5 MHz lower. Usually repeaters are listed by the frequencies they transmit on. So, you might find a “550” repeater that’s listed as 462.550 MHz. In order for you to use that repeater you would have to transmit on 467.550 MHz and listen on 462.550 MHz. Different radios program differently. Some require that you explicitly set the transmission frequency in one column and the receive frequency in another. I think that’s what your radio does. Tones The second part of this is tones, which can be the single most confusing aspect. Repeaters are usually listed with Input and Output tones. You transmit the repeater Input tone and you receive the repeater Output tone. Most repeaters have tone activated access. That’s their Input tone. They will only re-transmit signals that they receive using the correct tone. And, to make things worse there are two major tone types, DCS and CTCSS which are not compatible with each other. If the repeater you wish to access has an Input tone, you must program your radio to transmit that tone whenever you’re transmitting to the repeater. For instance, the repeater here that I use requires an input CTCSS tone of 100 Hz. Most repeaters also have an Output tone, which is the tone they transmit when they are relaying a transmission. It’s important to understand that a receiver that has no tones set receives everything. So, if you’re listening to a transmitter that has a 100 Hz CTCSS output, but you haven’t set a receive tone, your receiver will still reproduce the transmission. But, if you have the wrong tone set, they your receiver will disregard the signal. It receives it, but it doesn’t break squelch so you can hear it. For that reason I recommend that you leave the receive tone blank until you have everything working. Hope this helps! As I run across them on YouTube I’ll include links to videos that might help you:

KD4MOT: Some people just love to hear the sound of their own voice...

I don’t know, but I’m always game to speculate. Could it be as simple as the fact that they operate in an area where there is more access to a GMRS repeater?

Those were Helium crypto miners - aka Helium Hotspots for an IoT LoRaWAN network. It's been talked through all over the web in the past week or two. Helium.com for details. If you missed it, people were making $1500-$3500 per month from off-grid mountaintop sites that overlooked major cities. Those same sites now mine about $25 per month since the crypto crash. If someone was putting up those sites in the past few months, they've lost their butt - especially considering the cost of the equipment they've lost, or the fines they might incur.

This is also pretty good RF line of sight and topography calculator https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

Check out this thread and this article for some "mods" for the Twoer. I always wanted the Lawrence Engineering Superheterodyne modification but I have never been able to find one on eBay.

On a similar note: I have my Radioddity RD-5R DMR setup for GMRS in addition to 2 meter and 70 cms DMR, in case the need arises.

There is no such thing as a "Part 97" radio, so using one with Part 90 acceptance isn't breaking any rules. The only certification you will find on a ham radio is Part 15.

Around the Detroit area 2M and 70cm are dead most of the time. Many of the repeaters see little use. On 70cm with 20MHz of spectrum it’s easy to get lost in it if you’re looking to talk to somebody. On GMRS you only have a handful of frequencies to use so it doesn’t take much to find activity. On the Ham 70cm band yeah you have some grumpy people. With GMRS it’s geared for “family” use and the range of permissible uses is far greater than the Ham band allows. On GMRS everyone has the same type of license call, none of the 1x2, 1x3 etc. calls depending your license class. Some Hams won’t talk to somebody with a tech class call for example. On GMRS nobody cares how much DX you’ve worked, how fast you can send and receive CW, you run 1500 watts into an antenna on a 200 foot tower in your yard etc., it levels the field.

There are a few retired folks and a couple who work from home, that kind of hover around 18, 19 and 20 during the day. A couple of them are members here. You will be more likely to get a response in 18 (127.3) while north of DC on the east side of the Bmore and DC beltway. The 20 pair (675) is good for the same group of folks, plus a bit more as you get into DC and NOVA. And the 19 pair (650) is good from Leesburg to Warrenton. It's a bit splashy along 95 from the Pentagon and points south, as it's on Bull Run mountain. At night and on the weekends you will hear us mostly on 19. My call is WRBY328. Give me a call an 19 or 20 (20 is better) when you're around. I'm usually on my way to work around 10 to 11 AM and on my way back to the home office after 5ish.

Thanks @marcspaz. I travel thru the metro DC area weekly (multiple days) yet never hear much chatter on GMRS. I scan the RPT channels in CSQ but never hear alot. Normally when I get over near Annapolis I'll pick up some guys but they are never clear so normally turn down the radio. I'll have to look into the repeaters and get them loaded in my APX with tones.

Interesting you say this. I am a active ham and have been for over 25 years. I run multiple APRS digipeaters for SAR and personal use, as well as have multiple repeaters on the air. All are P25 but in the ham world. Additionally I help with another regional ham system that I'm not even able to use from home. Both myself and my wife have been hams for years. My issue with hams is very similar to @marcspaz brought up. I have removed repeaters for many of the common reasons, jammers, no use, no support. My main issue is 95% of the hams are just cheap. Spend $1500 on a HF rig but then complain their $29 CCR wont work on my P25 machine. I asked a simple question hoping to get some clarification.

There's actually people to talk to on GMRS. Ham is in an activity null. At least with repeater activity, at least in my area. I have a console system here that I use to talk on the radio. It has 16 resources on it. Four are GMRS, six are the local high profile ham repeaters. I hear GMRS traffic on and off all day, especially on MidWest. The only consistent ham stuff I hear is the club net and the ARES net on Monday and Tuesday nights on the local repeater. ANd as soon as the net is over it goes silent. No one even hangs around to chat. Now that repeater VOICE ID's every 9 minutes. And it has a second ID board that runs on the quarter hour. So that one if you time it right will ID 3 times in a row. That drives off he users. But none of the repeaters are active very much other than that.

Thanks for the info Radioguy7268. I had a friend a couple years ago try to get me into crypto over breakfast. I was a no go on that. Reminded me of the time waaay back in high school when one of my teachers pitched me the Amway pyramid. ?

"Fonarow pointed out that cryptocurrency is just one idea the city has heard. Trail officials may learn more once the locked boxes are opened." If they moved them, I bet some have already been opened... Odd that they allowed a story to be published without investigating the components (which I think they have) before attempting removal in todays climate. If that is the case I would think they know if it is HAM or GMRS or other related transmitters. Using serial numbers and photographs to be presented to folks in the know would be to easy to ID this stuff. I think the story is to flush out the owners, and/or locate all the units that they might not have found.

Add yours and the repeaters antenna height, if known in meters (divide ft by 3.3). looks like there are some hills in the way (left hand side of the plot).

THE KG935G IS NOW ON CHIRP

Putting a 40 watt amplifier on a low budget radio with suspect spec's is the equivalent of putting a 200 HP Nitrous shot kit on your Pinto. Until your repeater has a decent receiver with good sensitivity and selectivity you haven't done anything to improve the performance of the system. No matter how much horsepower you think you just gained.

I guess the question at this point is WHY is there 5 pages of discussion on a topic that is simple to answer. A radio that is PART 90 certified for commercial radio use is acceptable and legal for use on GMRS. Modified ham radios are NOT PART 90 certified and therefore are NOT allowed to be used on GMRS Although the will 'work'. This applies to repeaters as well as portables and mobiles. We seem to want to beat this stuff into the ground here and I fail to understand why that is. GMRS is in the middle of the UHF PART 90 frequency allocation. So from a technical standpoint, there would be no reason to think they wouldn't be allowed. Keep in mind that a ham radio for UHF (420 to 450Mhz) operated on GMRS is being operated 17Mhz outside of it's design parameters. Where a commercial radio that is PART 90 (450 to 470/512Mhz) is running INSIDE the design bandwidth of the radio. Now of course, there are considerations for power output that have to be followed. Some frequencies are lower power and some mobiles and portables will NOT turn down far enough to be legal to operate on the simplex GMRS frequencies. So you simply set those channels as receive only or don't program them in radios that can't turn down to a legal power output level.

This doesn't seem to get mentioned much but if you're an active scanner user there might be some pitfalls. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/605

A scanner is a better way to listen to other frequencies other than GMRS. I have one bank dedicated to GMRS on my scanner.

I have the one above and my MXT500 is a bit much for it in a New Tundra cup holder. In my truck it needs 4 screw out tighteners instead of three, but it is holding up.

Well, if you want to spend that kind of money, this is my original cupholder mount for Anytone from Amazon, that got stolen with my Anytone AT-779UV (Anytone 778 shown in pic), when I left it in the garage: Oh: It's a LIDO! ?

Did you ever end up testing the Bluetooth option out over the last 2 months? If sounds like an extremely nice feature that might go underutilized.

APX8500

As far as location its being done but as far as I know does not work on repeaters. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/533999 If you keyed up on my system with some rapid morse code every transmission I would give you the boot, I have no tolerance for Rodger beeps, fleet sync, etc. Lots of people use MDC to send unit numbers, around here we send the last 3 numbers of our gmrs call. Some groups send assigned unit numbers etc.. If you set your radio to decode MDC its silent and just displays it on the radio. PL is stripped so the users don't have to hear it. Commercial repeaters ID every 15 min. Can you imagine having to hear that for 8 hours a day.

I live in SW Wisconsin myself (Racine) I own or co operate several machines, 725, 700, 700, 550, 575, 675. Ingleside IL, New Berlin, Madison, Baraboo, Rhinelander and Union Grove. As far as operating under authority, this would imply a GMRS licence under authority of the issuing agency, or plainly the FCC. As such operators are required to ID by Rule of the issued licence. This term is used extensively by the FCC, you can find the definition on there site. I don't set an id on my systems for the simple reason if somebody gets on a repeater and starts breaking rules and jamming it up the last persons ID I want being broadcast is mine. Unless I am forced to by rule change I will never set and ID for this reason. Last reason is simple, its annoying to users on other repeaters sharing the channel to have some ID heterodyning during a conversation.